Improvement
in sex ratioCM announces incentives for villages
Sirsa, December 8
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced that the panchayats of all those villages which would stand first in the districts in showing improvement in the sex ratio would be given an extra incentive of Rs 1 lakh and the village that would stand first in the state would be given a sum of Rs 5 lakh.

Political parties out to woo Dalits
Chandigarh, December 8
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has just played the part to its “satisfaction” and the Congress party will take the stage tomorrow. Their common agenda is to woo the Dalits, who form a sizeable chunk in the state.

Chanchal Bharti captures soul of qawwali
Panchkula, December 8
“Endowed with sacred and sufiana strains of lyrical expression, the qawwali is a popular genre of Indian vocal music,” said Chanchal Bharti, renowned qawwal.
“The great sufi poet - musicologist, Amir Khusro, is credited for establishing the qawwali form originally sung in laudation and contemplation of God with the lyrics based on the sayings of Holy Koran” she added.
In city for a performance at the second Pinjore Heritage festival, Bharti shared
her views with the Tribune on the contemporary trends in music.

100 court officers to be inducted
Fatehabad, December 8
Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said today that 100 new officers would be inducted into subordinate and district courts in the two states by the end of this month to ensure the speedy delivery of justice.

Time scarcity cuts short CM’s visit
Sirsa, December 8
The Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda could not attend many projects and inaugural functions due to the shortage of time here today according to sources. The CM was supposed to preside over seminars on the eradication of female foeticide and drugs de-addiction, held in the police line here today.

14 get life term for murder
Gurgaon, December 7
A city court sentenced 14 persons to life imprisonment on late Thursday evening for murdering two persons and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.

Dera chief interrogated by Punjab police
Sirsa, December 8
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was today again questioned by the Punjab police in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs by dressing like the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Poor
water, power supply
Residents block road
Jind, December 8
Traffic on the Jind-Gohana road in the district came to a halt for about an hour today after residents of some villages came out on the highway and squatted there in protest against the poor water and power supply in the area.

Study aid for kids of safai karamcharis
Chandigarh, December 8
The Haryana government has decided to provide financial assistance upto Rs 3 lakh to the members of safai karamchari family for pursuing various professional and technical courses.

Polling held for bar council
Fatehabad, December 8
Polling for elections of 25 members of the Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was completed peacefully today in the bar room of the local district courts, where lawyers from Fatehabad and Ratia courts cast their votes.

HCS (J) viva from Dec 14
Chandigarh, December 8
The viva-voce examination for HCS (Judicial Branch), 2007, will be held at the Punjab and Haryana High Court museum for three days from December 14.

Paddy arrivals pick up
Chandigarh, December 8
The arrival of paddy in the 179 mandis of the state has surpassed the previous record.

3 nabbed for killing farmer
Sirsa, December 8
Finally six days after the incident, the police today managed to arrest three members of the same family out of six accused, who had allegedly shot dead a farmer at Ding Mandi here.

Sirsa, December 8
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced that the panchayats of all those villages which would stand first in the districts in showing improvement in the sex ratio would be given an extra incentive of Rs 1 lakh and the village that would stand first in the state would be given a sum of Rs 5 lakh.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Eradication of female foeticide and drug de-addiction’ organised by the state Legal Service Authority and the health department at the police lines here, he said the enactment of various laws to check the menace of female foeticide and drug addiction would not suffice and that the awareness amongst the masses regarding these social evils was a must.

He said Haryana was the second state in the country with the poorest sex ratio, preceded by Punjab. However, things had improved in the last three years. Earlier, there were 819 females for every 1,000 males, but now the number of females had increased to 865.

While expressing concern over the drug menace prevailing in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Vijender Jain said only ‘Jan chetana abhiyan’ could solve the problem. There was a serious need to make the masses aware of the ill effects of drugs and it would only be possible by launching a massive campaign against the menace. Even the imposition of the NDPS Act and severe punishment had failed to act as a deterrent.

The Chief Minister termed the female foeticide and drug addiction as the two stigmas on the state and exhorted the gathering, especially the women folk, to rid the state from the skewed sex ration and also from the menace of drugs.

Stressing the urgent need to get rid of drug addiction, the CM said China was an example for the state, where a large number of people were addicted to opium. But the menace was brought under control after the government dealt strictly with it.

Sharing his personal experience, the CM said he too was addicted to cigarette, but he quit smoking after his father threatened to go on fast, if he did not shun the habit.

Justice Jain exhorted the people to come forward and participate in the twin noble campaigns of eradication of female foeticide and drug addiction.

The executive chairman of the state Legal Service Authority, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said the authority was generating awareness among the people about these social problems. This was the third seminar.

Secretary of the state health department Navraj Sandhu said they had inspected 6,000 clinics during the raids and 100 ultrasound machines were closed and licences of 165 doctors were taken.

Chandigarh, December 8
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has just played the part to its “satisfaction” and the Congress party will take the stage tomorrow. Their common agenda is to woo the Dalits, who form a sizeable chunk in the state.

The week, which began with the INLD’s ‘Dalit chetna rally’ in Hisar by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will end with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s ‘Dalit samman rally’ at Karnal tomorrow.

If it is the Mayawati affect or have political parties suddenly awoken to the cause of the Dalits in Haryana is another matter, but political parties are, now, frantically waving the Dalit card for one-upmanship.

At his recent rally, Chautala had announced that if he was voted to power in the next election, a seven-member commission under INLD SC cell convener Dr M.L. Ranga would be set up to suggest solutions to the problems of the Backward Classes. Chautala also announced that Dr Ambedkar hostels would be built in all districts, backlog of the reserved posts would be filled and their due share in government jobs would be given to them.

However, the Chief Minister will use the rally stage not only to dole out more sops for the Dalits but also to propagate the “pro-Dalit” policies framed during his reign since it is often felt that the government decisions are not getting adequate publicity.

Besides, the platform will be used to give a “befitting” answer to Kuldeep Bishnoi’s ‘janhit rally’, which is seen as “successful” in political circles. Though the Chief Minister had clearly stated that official machinery would not be used to muster support for the rally, the Congress party and all its work force of MPs, ministers and MLAs are working overtime to ensure its success.

The union minister of state for poverty alleviation and urban development, Selja, is likely to attend the rally and share the stage with the Chief Minister. After the ‘bijli rally’ at Jharli in Jhajjar in October where the Haryana government announced its decision to provide 100-yard residential plots to the landless Dalits, backward and economically weaker residents, Selja had attempted to “cash in” on the decision in a subsequent advertisement campaign while the Chief Minister was abroad. This was not taken to, too kindly by the Chief Minister’s camp.

However, since she is seen as a prominent Dalit leader in the state and would have been conspicuous by her absence, she will be going to the rally venue after she arrives back from Chennai late tonight.

In another significant move earlier this year, the Congress had pulled out Phool Chand Mullana, another Dalit leader, from a ministerial position to make him party president. He was chosen over A.C. Chaudhary, who was being seen as a strong contender to appease the non-Jat voter and as a counter-measure against Bhajan Lal.

Karnal, December 8
Elaborate arrangements have been made for the ‘Dalit samman rally’ to be held at the new Grain Market here tomorrow.

A committee of 31 Dalit members under the leadership of Phool Chand Mullana, president, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has been constituted for the purpose.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be honoured by the Dalit Samaj on the occasion for executing a number of welfare schemes and development works for Dalits.

Hooda and a number of ministers and MLAs will address the gathering. The political advisor of the Chief Minister, Prof Virender Singh, and media advisor Sunder Pal Singh today supervised the final arrangements at the venue of the rally.

A stage measuring 60x40 square feet has been erected to accommodate about 300 VIPs. A press gallery close to the stage has been provided for mediapersons. A media centre has been established separately, in which 15 computers have been installed with Internet facilities besides fax, telephone and photostat for mediapersons.

The entire rally area has been divided into 20 sectors. Besides one additional superintendent of police and eight deputy superintendent of police, about 1,500 policemen have been deployed to supervise and man the security arrangements. Two sectors have been reserved for women.

Adequate numbers of fire brigade vehicles, ambulance vans and recovery vans have been kept ready in case of emergency.

A government spokesman revealed that 62 welfare schemes have been launched during the past two-and-a-half years in Haryana by the Hooda government for the upliftment of Dalits.

Gurgaon, December 8
The police has solved the murder case of Rajinder Singh Saini, a resident of Bhadshapur, whose body was found three months ago in a field near Bhadshapur.

It arrested the alleged murderer, Rohtakh, son of maternal aunt of Saini. He allegedly had illicit relations with Saini’s wife, which is claimed by the police to be the motive behind the murder. Saini was stabbed to death by a sharp-edged weapon.

DCP (South) Satish Balan said Saini went to a party on August 25, which was arranged by his friends in a farmhouse. He did not return home after the party. His brother lodged a complaint on August 27 and on September 3, a labourer found the body in the fields. After recovering the body, the police approached the Saini’s family twice for identification, but the family said it was not his body.

Meanwhile, Rohtakh told the police that Saini was alive, as he had called on his cell a number of times.

Investigation officer Babu Lal said the police spread a rumour that Saini’s killer had been arrested and they had accepted their offence. Later, the Saini’s family accepted that it was his body after the police pressurised them for a blood test.

On October 26, Rohtakh spread a rumor that Saini appeared in his dream and said his body was in Rohtak and should be cremated properly for the peace of the soul.

Lal said the police arrested Rohtakh three days back and he had accepted the crime during interrogation. The accused said he had developed illicit relation with Saini’s wife and Saini came to know about it. He said Saini used to threaten that he would murder him.

The accused along with his two friends, Sonu Kumar and Bhuri, murdered Saini at the party.

Panchkula, December 8
“Endowed with sacred and sufiana strains of lyrical expression, the qawwali is a popular genre of Indian vocal music,” said Chanchal Bharti, renowned
qawwal.

“The great sufi poet - musicologist, Amir Khusro, is credited for establishing the qawwali form originally sung in laudation and contemplation of God with the lyrics based on the sayings of Holy Koran” she added.

In city for a performance at the second Pinjore Heritage festival, Bharti shared her views with the Tribune on the contemporary trends in music.

As per the old traditions only the male exponents of qawwali had the privilege of performing it at holy ‘darghas’ but later with the prevailing of secular thought and progressive ventures of experiments, new dimensions emerged in the realm of qawwali performance.

“The films too propagated female qawwali singers but it was not so easy in the real life for a woman like me with no family legacy and conservative lifestyle to opt for the profession. That is why there are very few woman qawwali singers in India,” she said.

Coming from a Hindu family of farmers from Benaras, Urmila Sinha, now popularly admired as Chanchal Bharti, eventually faced many challenges while stepping into male bastion of qawwali wizards.

Fascinated by the adulation, response and respect showered on the late female qawwal at a concert, she decided to be a qawwali queen but not as a naïve entrant.

Though trained in classical music under Ustad Abdul Ghani of Kirana gharana and Iqbal Ahmed Khan, she went to learn the finer nuances in qawwali singing like Lab-o-lehza, ada and andaaz-e-byan from Ustad Iqbal Afzal Sabri and the Urdu, especially its Tallafuz from poet Qaiser Samastipuri.

“Over the years, I gained the prowess and spontaneity to throw thousands of Urdu Hindi sufiana couplets from the mystics, poets and sufi saints with ease,” she said.

While her 21st album ‘Khwaza ki divani’ is under release, she relished performing in over 15 countries but the response from audience in Pakistan and Gulf countries was amazing.

Accompanied by her musician husband, Amar Parsad, she had performed at national festivals in India but she prefers solo performances than ‘qawwali muqabalas’ though she had conquered many during her 20 years of musical voyage.

Fatehabad, December 8
Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said today that 100 new officers would be inducted into subordinate and district courts in the two states by the end of this month to ensure the speedy delivery of justice.

The Chief Justice was talking to mediapersons at the PWD rest house during a brief halt here.

He was accompanied by Justice A. K. Goel, Justice A. N. Jindal and Justice Nawab Singh, all judges of the high court.

Answering a question on judicial delays, Justice Jain admitted that the situation was
bad. He said there were merely 209 judicial officers in Haryana against 5.40 lakh cases pending in the courts.

He said that in 2001 the high court had given a demand for 367 judges to the state government, but nothing happened despite several reminders.

He said the cadre strength of judges had recently been increased by 67 out of which the state would get 37.

Justice Jain said the concept of mobile courts introduced recently by the high court in the Mewat area had proved to be an effective means for the speedy delivery of
justice. On an average 15 cases a day were being settled in these courts.

The Chief Justice expressed concern over the social imbalance being caused due to female foeticide in Punjab and Haryana.

He said that immediately after assuming office as the Chief Justice, he resolved to do something concrete for the eradication of female foeticide.

It was decided to observe 2007 as “Women Empowerment
Year”. Rallies were organised first at Patiala and then Kurukshetra to create awareness among the masses on this issue.

After that seminars were organised at the district and subdivision levels through the legal services authority.

He said it was ironical that while on the one hand we talked about the rights of the girl child on the other we denied them the opportunity to come into this world.

The law was in place to deal with those perpetuating the crime of female foeticide, but the law alone could not end the menace.

He said the mindset of people was responsible for considering girls lesser children than
boys. Till that was changed, nothing could be done.

Justice Jain also expressed concern over the increase in drug addiction in Punjab and this part of Haryana, adding that the high court has been organising seminars on this issue, too.

Bhiwani, December 8
A newly married man is running from pillar to post to get his wife back for the last three months.

Vikas Goel, a resident of Singhani village in the district, fell in love with a girl of different caste about a year ago. Later, they got married at a temple in Jaipur after requesting the head priest, Pt Nathu Ram, to solemnise their marriage. The priest after inspecting their birth certificates performed the marriage in presence of advocate and others.

They contacted their parents two days after the marriage and informed them about their whereabouts.

Vikas alleged that relatives of the bride snatched all documents related to their marriage, burnt them and took away the girl to their village, Buwani Khera.

When he went to take his wife back, they allegedly beat him up and asked him not to come again in this connection.

Vikas requested the SP, DC and even the Chief Minister for help but all in vain.

Now, he has filed an application with the local court. His counsel, Sanjeev Tanwar, said the marriage of Vikas was in accordance to the Hindu Marriage Act and he had filed an appeal with the district court. The girl and her father had been directed to appear before the court on January 5.

Sirsa, December 8
The Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda could not attend many projects and inaugural functions due to the shortage of time here today according to sources. The CM was supposed to preside over seminars on the eradication of female foeticide and drugs de-addiction, held in the police line here today.

Besides shortage of time he also had to leave for Delhi to cater to some important official work.

An official said the CM had given his consent to come again to the district by the end of this month to inaugurate these projects.

As per the proposed scheduled the CM was requested by the district administration to lay foundation stones of various projects, including a railway flyover bridge to be built costing Rs 50 crore, various power sub-stations, a bypass, and to inaugurate a trauma centre and a stadium. He was also to lay the foundation stone for 200 chambers at the district courts. The completion of the railway over bridge, is a pending demand of the locals.

Meanwhile, the parents of some of the students of the CMK Girls College complained to the deputy commissioner that the internal examination of the BCA students had been cancelled and they had been forced to attend the seminar on the eradication of female foeticide and drugs de-addiction.

Gurgaon, December 7
A city court sentenced 14 persons to life imprisonment on late Thursday evening for murdering two persons and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.

The convicts were involved in the murder of two persons at a marriage party in Rathiwas village in south district of Gurgaon over panchayat election rivalry. The incident had also left one injured.

Additional sessions judge Kuldeep Jain convicted all 14 accused. According to prosecutor Vishal Gupta, the incident took place on June 17, 2005.

Prosecution said the family members and supporters of one Manchand had attacked on the family members and relatives of Sohan Lal to take revenge of Manchand's defeat in the Panchayat election held in April 2005. In the election, Sohan Lal had defeated
Manchand, who had remained in the post for over a decade.

The FIR was lodged by Manchand’s son Surinder at Vilaspur police post based on which the accused were arrested and the trial started.

In this case all accused have been held equally liable for the murders. The prosecution had produced 19 witnesses in the court to prove the accused guilty.

Sirsa, December 8
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was today again questioned by the Punjab police in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs by dressing like the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

DSP Surinder Pal Singh along with others quizzed the dera chief at his official residence called ‘Gufa’ for about 30 minutes. The police asked him about the controversial dress, from where it was got and who financed it.

Not satisfied with the replies of the dera chief, the DSP said the Punjab police would soon file a challan against the dera chief.

Police sources said a team of Punjab police personnel headed by the DSP reached here at about 10 am and after completing the formalities at the Sadar police station, the Punjab police team along with the Haryana police reached the dera at about 11 a.m.

Chandigarh, December 8
It seems convicts can go to any length to get out of prison on parole.

A murder convict, undergoing life imprisonment in Sonepat, tried to tie knot with transient freedom by producing an invitation card for his marriage that was never to take place.

When the jail staff went to verify his claims, the “bride’s” family and villagers ‘greeted’ them with choicest abuses.

Seeking release on parole, Narender filed an application before the Punjab and Haryana High Court claiming that he was to get married this month.

In an attempt to substantiate his claims, Narinder even placed on record an ‘invitation card’ which, he claimed, had been sent to relatives and friends.

Taking up his plea, the High Court issued notice of motion to the State of Haryana and other respondents in the case.

In response to the notice, counsel for the state Deepak Girotra filed a reply in the form of an affidavit by Sonepat District Jail Superintendent Rai Singh
Mandiwal.

The affidavit, taken on record, categorically stated that the petitioner’s plea was “totally false”.

Elaborating, he stated that the girl’s family and village elders had simply refused to acknowledge the so-called marriage.

Rather, they used abusive language with the jail staff and police authorities who had been deputed to verify the petitioner’s plea.

After going through the affidavit and the record of the case, Justice Surya Kant of the high court ruled that the petitioner’s effort to seek parole was based on a “totally false and concocted plea”. As such, the petition stood dismissed.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the Judge also directed the state and other respondents in the case to be overcautious in entertaining the petitioner’s request for parole in future also.

Jind, December 8
Traffic on the Jind-Gohana road in the district came to a halt for about an hour today after residents of some villages came out on the highway and squatted there in protest against the poor water and power supply in the area.

The blockade was, however, lifted after the intervention of local authorities.

According to the reports, residents of Barakhurd, Barakalan, Siwaha, Asan and Singhvikhera assembled at a spot near Barakhurd and decided to block the traffic to highlight their plight.

Blaming the authorities concerned, the protestors claimed that the villages were not getting a regular supply of electricity for even three hours at a stretch. They said despite several reminders and appeals, there had hardly been any positive development on the issue in the past few weeks.

Chandigarh, December 8
The Haryana government has decided to provide financial assistance upto Rs 3 lakh to the members of safai karamchari family for pursuing various professional and technical courses.

While giving this information here today, Haryana social welfare minister Kartar Devi said under this scheme, loan of Rs 75,000 per annum at the rate of 6 per cent interest per annum would be provided to those applicants who were permanent residents of the state.

The minister stated that Haryana Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (HSFDC) in collaboration with National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) would provide education loan for various courses such as MBA from IIMs or equivalent institutions.

Fatehabad, December 8
Polling for elections of 25 members of the Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was completed peacefully today in the bar room of the local district courts, where lawyers from Fatehabad and Ratia courts cast their votes.

At least 321 out of 381 lawyers, practicing in the district courts, cast their votes here today.

Rakesh Nagpal, a lawyer from the high court, had been appointed poll observer for Fatehabad by the council.

As many as 134 candidates from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh are contesting for the 25 seats of the council.

Chandigarh, December 8
The Haryana forest department has decided to create a special cell to popularise the cultivation and marketing of medicinal plants in the state.

This was stated by minster of state for forests Kiran Choudhry at a meeting with officials of the department here today. This cell would also help farmers cultivate medicinal plants, promote herbal parks and market end products.

She said that a processing plant of aloe vera would be set up at Bhiwani as it was a popular and beneficial medicinal plant and had a wide international and national market for its products.

She added that the department had decided to give top priority to agro forestry to achieve the 10 per cent target of tree cover in the state by 2010. Farmers would be provided with free saplings.

Chandigarh, December 8
The arrival of paddy in the 179 mandis of the state has surpassed the previous record.

As much as 40.34 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has arrived so far against 39.81 lakh metric tonnes during the corresponding period last year.

Out of this 17.82 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been procured by the six government agencies concerned.

While stating this here today, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said the arrivals had picked up due to the raising of the bonus on paddy to Rs 100 per quintal by the government of India. Earlier the bonus was Rs 50 per quintal.

Bhiwani, December 8
The fifth rural lok adalat was held at Jatu Luhari village today. It was organised by the district Legal Services Authority under the guidance of sessions judge R.K. Bishnoi. At least 32 cases out of 126 cases were settled.